New regulations aim to ID potential shooting range sites

Public voices concern over lack of detail in lead abatement requirements

STERLING -- The Logan County Planning Commission got one step closer, Tuesday, to addressing concerns about Northeast Colorado Sportsman's Club (NCSC) finding a suitable property for their facility.

In a 6-0 vote, with Dave Whitney absent from the meeting, the commission voted to recommend amendments to the Logan County Zoning Resolution Sections 3.1, 7.3 and 12.3, pertaining to shooting ranges, to Logan County Commissioners for approval.

NCSC has been trying for years to find a suitable location for their facility; multiple times the commission has voted not to recommend their requests for special use permits to the commissioners. The club's last application was withdrawn.

The amendments provide guidelines for what is expected of a shooting facility. Planning Coordinator Kris Pennington said the amendments are an effort to standardize applications that come before the commission, but still have some flexibility depending on what site is presented.

She also said the amendments parallel "pretty closely" with what neighboring counties have and models the state's model for shooting ranges but goes more into detail than what the state suggests.

"These are very generic things that we're doing. We're not looking at site specific, we're looking at just general regulations," vice-chairman Jerry Wernsman told the audience before the public comment portion of the meeting.

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According to the resolutions, shooting ranges must have a Colorado stamped engineered drawing prepared according to the most current National Rifle Association Sourcebook guidelines.

Additionally, the facility would be required to provide proof of current liability insurance or a commitment to issue liability insurance and a written plan for lead abatement.

It must also include names and addresses of landowners within one mile of the proposed site for notification purposes, as well as a land use description for all parcels within one mile of the proposed site.

A written plan of operations must include proposed hours of operation, estimated number and frequency of planned events, plans for lighting (should be directional and hooded to avoid light spillage onto neighboring properties), landscape screening, safety and security plans.

Several people, including Bob McCarty and Robert Knowles, applauded the commission for getting this far.

McCarty talked about helping with a few shooting range projects when he worked with the Division of Wildlife and the possibility of having the facility on conservancy land.

"There are a lot of things that can be done for shooting ranges," he said.

McCarty commented that during his time with the Division of Wildlife he heard over and over, "We really need more shooting ranges in this state if we want to continue on with shooting sports."

Randy Pfeifer said law enforcement are in great need of somewhere to be able to practice their shooting, a place nearby, so they can spent less time traveling and more time practicing.

While Knowles said the amendments are a step in the right direction, more detail is needed, particularly in regards to lead abatement and how that would get done, how often it would occur and who would be in charge of it.

Gary Mason pointed out that to his knowledge there is no validated scientific evidence that shows that outdoor ranges contribute in any to any sort of groundwater pollution.

The planning commission clarified that the lead abatement requirement wasn't added because of evidence showing ranges contribute to water pollution, but because it's an issue that has repeatedly come up.

"My concerns are knowing that elsewhere, what sometimes start off as very reasonable sounding regulations adopted at various levels of government related to shooting ranges, have eventually been used to make it prohibitively expensive to operate either a public or private range," Mason said.

There was some discussion about Environmental Protection Agency standards, but board member Michael Bornia voiced concern about inviting EPA into county policy.

Tim Duncan said the applicant should include information about possible camping on the site. He also asked that the applicant clarify what type of shooting they will be doing and suggested more detail should be provided about landscape screening requirements.

The board cautioned that they and the county commissioners would still have the authority to deny an application or request more information before approving it.

Board member Tom Kiel said they just want to make sure applicants are doing the work to give the commission what they need to make a decision.

"It's not our job to do their homework," he said.

In other business, the commission reviewed Logan County Zoning Regulations 7.3 and 7.4, pertaining to sanitary landfills, solid waste disposal facilities/recycling facilities and auto salvage yards. After looking over changes made to the regulations based on conversation at the last meeting and not finding anything new to address, the commission directed Pennington to present the regulations to the county attorney for review.